Love You Better
by rodeo-duck
Summary: /She stopped in front of Mike, the air bristling around her; Brittany's back to Santana as she straddled him, and she only turned when Mike froze in place, his eyes big. / Brittana fluff.


**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**Pairings/Characters: **Santana/Brittany; Puck/Santana; Mike/Brittany; Rachel

**Note: **Another long one from me. Read/Review/Enjoy.

* * *

She's in a hallway, somewhere, she's not really sure where, but if she had to guess it would probably be by the chemistry wing, but such thoughts soon left her as she sees Brittany radiant and light on her feet as ever moving toward Santana.

_She looks like an angel_.

But Santana's feet are rooted to the floor and her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth as Brittany floated closer and Santana was finding it difficult to swallow.

"I could love you better"

The words were light and airy against Santana's ear, but she felt it in the pit of her stomach anyways and something was tugging at her, persistent, and was distracting her, beckoning to her as Brittany was slipping away, the word 'better' echoing around in her head.

…

Something was wet against her cheek. Santana moved to check what it was, and was disgusted to find that there was a small puddle of drool as she fell asleep. Most people have shuffled out of class by now though, and it was only Brittany who was telling her that they're about to be late to math class. Brittany was on her shoulder, her tapping persistent, as images of her flashed across Santana's mind, and she was unable to look Brittany in the eye, embarrassed.

"San, you fell asleep again." The admonishment was offset by her smile, and as Santana moved to link pinkies Brittany's arm was flush and warm against her own, and Santana muttered low under her breath, "Better, huh?"

…

But she's with Puck, and Brittany with Mike, and until something breaks, it seems like it's going to stay that way, because last time she checked, sex did not equate dating and Brittany at least _seemed_ happy with Mike, who, begrudgingly, was good to her, but Mike was not Santana.

Even though that might have settled the argument in her mind. Still, Lima was just a cow town filled with Lima losers so there wasn't anything Santana could do about it, even if she wanted to, and really, wasn't all of this for their own good anyways? She was protecting the both of them by doing this, and since reputation was everything, it was the smart thing to do.

That didn't make it the right thing, though.

The image stayed in her mind for the rest of day and into the next; sitting in math class or Spanish class passing time with Santana entertaining thoughts about Brittany and during glee practice Brittany would play with her hair and stroke her arm, and after Cheerios practice they would get smoothies together drinking always out of the same cup. Brittany would walk with her in the mornings to school, pinkies always linked, and not once, but twice the both of them blew off either Puck or Mike to spend time in the company of the other.

…

Nothing big or dramatic really changed, and Santana was almost sad that it was as anticlimactic that it was. And soon Mike sort of faded away, out of the picture, and Santana broke up with Puck, even though they still hooked up and sent texts.

Brittany still always found her way into Santana's dreams, and even though they were almost always the same, Santana always woke up in the morning with the word _better_ on her lips, body heavy with arousal.

Then, quite suddenly, something finally snapped in Santana and she decided that enough was enough, and she wasn't content anymore. Something clicked into place and Santana came to the conclusion that Brittany only belonged to one person: that being Santana Lopez.

…

They were at Matt's house that night, late in the summer and it was far too hot for a Lima summer outside as Puck found her, circling his clumsy hands around her waist. Brittany was somewhere with Mike, the last she saw they were sidling up on the couch, a tipsy Brittany far too affectionate with him. The sight alone had given her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and perhaps that was the only reason she was putting up with breathing Puck's beer breath.

It might have been the heat; Santana wasn't sure, but when Puck made to kiss her neck, his hands tugging at the hem of her shirt, she curled up her fists and punched him as hard as she could in the gut, stomping on his toes for added effect. She was pleased when he recoiled in pain, hissing.

"Fuck, Santana, what the hell was that for?"

She almost felt bad for him then, almost thought about the idea of taking him back again, but then Brittany flashed across her mind and her resolve steeled.

"We're done here, you understand? I'm not fucking doing this with you anymore."

She turned on her heel and left Puck there, to lick his own wounds as she clambered back inside, over the swell of the bodies, intent on finding Brittany.

She found them where she had left them, growling loud enough that several people stopped only long enough to see what had caused the noise before hastily returning to their drinks or partners upon finding Santana at the source.

"If you're serious about this," a voice came from nowhere, "then be sure that you're ready to mean it. Brittany's –"

"Berry! For once, shut it."

Rachel flushed a deep crimson, and Santana slipped away before Rachel could get another word in. She stopped in front of Mike, the air bristling around her; Brittany's back to Santana as she straddled him, and she only turned when Mike froze in place, his eyes big.

She thrust her hand out, and was pleased when Brittany took it, leaving a confused Mike behind. Their fingers were laced as she led them outside, away from prying and questioning eyes, stopping half a block away from the house. She turned suddenly, wrapping her arms around Brittany possessively and kissed her full on the mouth until she was breathless and her lips were flushed and her hair had come undone and her eyes dilated.

"I'm better." she had said, quietly at first and afraid to look Brittany in the eye, "Leave him. I can love you better than he ever could hope to; if you'd let me try, for real this time. No more hiding."

It was hot and sticky with the mosquitoes and fireflies flitting about, and Santana counted to a full and painful fifteen seconds counting how many times the fireflies would flash – 26 – before Brittany whispered _yes_ so quietly that she thought she had misheard the first time around.

But then the _yes_ was a little more audible, and Santana knew that she hadn't misheard when Brittany was running a warm hand up around her bicep and curling her arms around Santana's neck to kiss her full on the mouth again.

…

The reason for why Brittany left Mike was never really clarified, and no one really bothered, or dared to ask for the real reason.

All anyone ever said about the matter was that since then Santana had stopped scowling so much and even occasionally smiled, but that her smiles were typically reserved for Brittany alone, as they walked with their fingers laced through the hallways of McKinley high.

**Fin.**


End file.
